Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 81: Changes in Jiucheng Palace

In the main hall, the atmosphere was in a stalemate.

Hou Junji frowned and said nothing.

Li Shimin looked at his constipated expression and continued to add:
"In addition, I will promote your son-in-law Helan Chushi to the position of chief clerk of the East Palace Bookstore."

Hou Junji lowered his head but still said nothing.

Li Shimin frowned slightly, and finally said earnestly:
"Jun Ji, you and your family must assist the Crown Prince well and live up to my expectations."

Hou Junji stood motionless, like a sculpture.

"What's the answer?"

The emperor's voice was not loud, but it carried unquestionable majesty.

This is the majesty of a monarch.

Changsun Wuji moved his butt uncomfortably, obviously unable to withstand such high pressure.

Hou Junji's head drooped lower and lower, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, as if the entire Tang Empire was pressing on his shoulders.

However, he didn't utter a single word.

If he could give in easily, Hou Junji would no longer be Hou Junji.

Huh... Li Shimin exhaled silently, his brows relaxed slightly, and the high-pressure atmosphere suddenly dissipated.

He asked bluntly:
"You are unwilling to assist the prince, is it because of Li Ming?"

This is an interrogation technique.

After this alternation of tension and relaxation, most people would easily break down their defenses and reveal their true feelings.

Hou Junji did not give a direct answer, but said in a dry voice:

"I am willing to be the left guard of the Eastern Palace."

Even a fool could tell that this was clearly an excuse to shirk responsibility.

What the Tang Dynasty lacked the least was military generals, and Hou Junji himself was well aware of this.

"Even if I appoint you as the commander of the Left Guard, will the people of the world obey you? Can you sit still and be at peace?"

Li Shimin stood up angrily and returned to the dragon couch, not intending to beat around the bush with him:
"How stupid! Why don't you understand?

"If you assist King Lu, you will harm both him and yourself!"

A bastard of the lowest origin and most controversial behavior, paired with a military commander of the most unruly character and greedy nature.

Li Shimin didn't dare to imagine what kind of sparks would be created by the collision between the two, and what kind of anxiety and fear it would cause Li Chengqian.

Damn, these two guys are the ones that give him the most headaches.

One claims to be afraid of death, the other claims to be greedy.

But in his opinion, they are not afraid of death or greedy at all!

You obviously think the battle for succession isn't exciting enough!

"I don't know what your majesty is talking about." Hou Junji pretended to be stupid.

Li Shimin's forehead was bulging with veins, and he said in a dull voice:

"Do you know what Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty said when he wanted to kill General Zhou Yafu?

"This sullen Zhou Yafu is not a subject who can serve the young master."

Li Er loved to use examples of ancient emperors killing their meritorious officials to scare his meritorious officials.

When Hou Junji heard this, his face turned red and white, and he was about to say something.

Li Shimin didn't intend to listen and waved his hand:
"Go back and think about it carefully. Go ahead."

Hou Junji said goodbye and followed the palace guards back to the small house in the corner of Jiucheng Palace.

After all, he is still a sinner in name and cannot overstep the line.

Zhang Sun Wuji was puzzled by his brother-in-law's actions:

"Why doesn't Your Majesty directly issue an edict to force Hou Junji to assist the Crown Prince?"

Li Shimin took a sip of tea:

“You need to use different methods to treat people with different personalities.

"Hou Junji is soft-hearted and does not respond to force. If you force him to do it like this and keep him locked up until now, something bad will happen.

"So I brought him to the Li Palace and used both kindness and force. This is the correct way to deal with him."

Chang Sun Wuji couldn't help feeling ashamed:

"It was my fault that I was reckless."

Li Shimin looked at his brother-in-law and just sighed, without saying the second half of the sentence.

Before meeting Li Ming, Hou Junji had been through many hardships with him. When had he ever shown his unyielding side?
When it comes to manipulating and buying people's hearts, who can compare to my son Li Ming...

"You've been tired on the road today, so you should go back and rest early."

"As ordered."

…………

As the night deepened, the lights in Jiucheng Palace went out one by one.

Dark clouds loomed over the city, and the palace lanterns swayed wildly in the dusty wind.

Outside the lonely firelight, it was pitch dark.

There was a muffled thunder explosion.

"Who?!"

Li Zhi woke up from his dream with a start. Seeing no one around, he couldn't help scratching his head in self-mockery.

"Am I as timid and afraid of thunder as that guy?"

The night watchman in the palace struck the fourth drum, it was the fourth watch in the morning.

"It's time to go out."

Li Zhi looks like a good boy, but he is actually a scheming boy with great scheming.

But this also brought him a side effect at a young age - insomnia.

Therefore, every day at four o'clock he would take a car out of the palace and take a stroll.

Maybe he could catch up on some sleep in the car.

Even after leaving the capital, he still kept this habit.

The palace guards had long been accustomed to it, and the ceremonial procession for the trip was also ready.

Li Zhi was in a good mood today. He sat in the shaking carriage and felt sleepy before he even left the palace.

In a daze, he heard the creaking sound of the palace door opening.

It was the fourth watch, which was also the time when the palace guards changed shifts.

Through the curtain of the car window, Li Zhi could vaguely see that a neat team of black shadows had replaced the original palace gate guards and were defending on the left and right of the main gate of Jiucheng Palace.

A beam of orange light flashed through the gap in the curtain.

It was the visor of a certain defender, reflecting the light under the torch.

Standing guard is not actual combat, why do you need to wear a face armor... A question flashed through Li Zhi's mind, and he subconsciously lifted the curtain of the car and looked towards the palace gate behind.

The newly rotated imperial guards were in good order, marching out of the barracks and entering the gate of Jiucheng Palace.

"Everything is normal. Haha, am I also suffering from the same persecution delusion as that guy..." Li Zhi shook his head in self-mockery and leaned back in the car seat with peace of mind.

As soon as he changed his mind, he sat up. This is not right!
What the hell is normal!

The gate guards on duty are responsible for standing guard outside the palace gate.

What are they doing in the palace?!

The more Li Zhi thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, so he slammed the car window:
"Go back to the palace..."

Before he could finish his words, the carriage suddenly shook violently, causing his head to hit the roof.

The carriage got stuck in a hidden pit.

The entire honor guard was in chaos, and everyone was trying to move the car out in a frantic manner, feeling puzzled.

When I came here during the day, this road was still fine...

Just when Li Zhi was dizzy and the guards and ceremonial guards outside the car were in chaos.

There was a dense sound of bowstrings.

Then there was running, crying, the piercing noise of metal colliding, and guns digging into flesh.

Everything happened very compactly.

But within half an incense stick of time, the outside of the car returned to silence again.

"What happened? What happened!"

Li Zhi lost his mind and huddled in a corner of the car seat, trembling.

The curtains were completely lifted up.

A face covered with a mask reached into the car without any scruples.

The mask was patterned with eyes, mouth and nose, and looked particularly ferocious in the dim light.

…………

Ashina Jieshe led his army and swaggered into the Jiucheng Palace.

Not all Turks were on his side, but not all other ethnic Hu people were completely loyal to the emperor.

Among the imperial guards, all Han soldiers were from aristocratic families who had undergone strict "political review".

However, the Hu people are not like that.

Most of these Hu people were tribal members who surrendered to the Tang Dynasty, and mixed in with them were a number of traitors whose loyalty was questionable.

Li Shimin, a balance maniac, originally wanted to strike a balance among the imperial guards, allowing the two forces to check and balance each other.

Unexpectedly, I lost it.

Inspired by Ashina's society, there was indeed a group of promising young people willing to follow him in rebellion.

Among these rebels, besides those who were bent on rebellion, there were more reckless men who did whatever they wanted.

They were used to grazing on the grassland and didn't like to use their brains, so they were dragged in by the officers in a daze.

"Excluding the auxiliary personnel at each gate, the main attack force entering the palace consists of a total of 200 soldiers..."

Ashina Jieshelu was calculating in his mind and felt that he was safe.

In the core area of ​​the empire, two hundred soldiers are a force that cannot be underestimated.

The prerequisite is not to be discovered by Li Shimin in advance and let him escape.

"Left!"

Under his command, two hundred people took shelter in an orderly manner in a small path in the courtyard.

After a while, a night patrol team passed by on the road they had just taken.

The team passed by the rebels, but the dark night and the noisy wind made it impossible to see or hear any clues.

Because he had imperial guards from different guard houses in the Southern Court under his command, he was familiar with the patrol routes and times.

After escaping the first hurdle, Ashina led his desperate men and continued to advance towards the emperor's bedroom where he was resting.

The group of people maneuvered along the winding palace road, avoiding patrols and bypassing guard posts, and arrived in front of a tall city wall.

This is the inner city wall that separates the inner and outer palaces of Jiucheng Palace.

Behind the sturdy city gate is the bedroom area where the nobles rest.

Torches were lit on the city walls.

The guard heard the sound of uniform footsteps and thought that some patrol had gone in the wrong direction due to sleepiness, so he gestured and shouted:

"East! East! The north is not your defense zone!"

The rebellious guard did not force its way through the gate, but they also did not patrol eastward as instructed.

Instead, it stopped, as if waiting for something.

What are these people doing and why are they wearing face armor... The captain muttered in confusion and moved his head towards the bottom of the city wall, wanting to get a closer look.

Little did he know that the two Turkic soldiers behind him suddenly grabbed his left and right legs and lifted him off the city wall.

There was a muffled sound of "thump".

The captain fell headfirst onto the ground and died.

Didn't make any waves.

The heavy city gate slowly opened.

The association rate curled the corner of his mouth.

His role as the “gatekeeper general” was not in vain.

Although it was stupid to stand guard at the gate all day, it gave him the opportunity to have spies at almost every palace gate.

In Jiucheng Palace, there was no door that could stop him.

If it is in the Taiji Palace, in addition to the tangible city walls and palace gates, the imperial guards will also set up checkpoints on various important roads in the palace to check people coming and going.

This is the most troublesome defensive method for the rebels.

But in Jiucheng Palace, this crucial setting was greatly reduced.

To outsiders, this place is still an iron wall.

But Ashina Jieshe accompanied Li Shimin to this summer resort dozens of times. In his eyes, Jiucheng Palace was full of fatal loopholes.

Two hundred soldiers filed in, and the atmosphere was solemn and murderous.

Apart from the sound of the nails colliding and the whistling wind, the whole process was extremely quiet and no one spoke.

The sky was gradually turning whiter, and in the distance, there were lightning and thunder in Qizhou County.

Against the backdrop of the night, the lightning briefly illuminated a spectacular silhouette.

It was a towering palace, the core of the Tang Empire and the undisputed center of the world in the seventh century AD.

That is the emperor's bedroom.

The Tang Emperor, Li Shimin, is resting there at the moment.

Ashina Jiesheshu was solemn in his heart and slowly drew out his sword.

The throne of the Great Khan and the glory of the Turks have never been as within reach as they are today!

He issued the order with ease:

"Cholasheer, Geshushekui, each of you take ten men and go set fire to various places.

"Everyone else, follow me and charge!"

(End of this chapter)